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Home>Action Alerts>09JUN2008

NY Action Alert
Parents Rally to Protest a Vaccine Bill

Parents will rally in Albany, NY on Tuesday, June 10, to protest a vaccine
bill (AB10942) that would mandate the 69 doses of 16 vaccines the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) recommends for all children through age 18 plus would automatically mandate all new vaccines federal officials recommend in the future. Sponsored by the NY House Rules Committee at the request of NY State Health Commissioner Richard Daines, provisions in the legislation would force all children to get annual influenza shots as well as force child use of vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases, such as hepatitis B and HPV, without obtaining permission from parents.

The legislation would make unelected physicians, who are appointed to the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by unelected CDC officials, de facto state lawmakers because CDC recommendations for new vaccine use by all children would be automatically turned into state mandates. Duly elected New York state legislators would no longer be accountable to the people who elected them and could look the other way when federal officials recommend every new vaccine produced by industry for "universal use" by every child born in America.

If New York and other states had already passed this kind of legislation before the poorly tested and highly reactive GARDASIL vaccine was recommended by the CDC in 2006 for universal use by all 11 year old girls, Merck would not have had to spend money mounting a national advertising and lobbying campaign in a failed attempt in 2007 to ram GARDASIL vaccine mandates through state legislatures. (Public health laws, including vaccine laws, are enacted by the states and not by the federal government).

Every new vaccine that industry has created and marketed for children in the last quarter century has been recommended by the CDC for universal use by all children, tripling the numbers of doses of vaccines pediatricians give children. During this same time period, the numbers of children suffering with chronic disease and disability has also tripled with no explanation coming from U.S. public health officials about why so many highly vaccinated children are so sick.

In what appears to be a classic act of collective political cowardice, NY Assembly Bill 10942 would force nearly six dozen doses of vaccines on children and many more in the future but there are no publicly named individual sponsors attached to the bill. The only sponsor listed is the "Rules Committee" headed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) . There is a lot of speculation about how much influence Merck and other vaccine manufacturers, as well as medical organizations and government officials pushing the forced vaccination political agenda, are bringing to bear on legislators behind the scenes.

Parents in New York claim that Assembly Speaker Silver is blocking passage of
AB 5468 for philosophical belief exemption to vaccination in the Assembly (there is a companion bill, SB 3031, in the state Senate). Current NY law only allows parents to file a medical or religious exemption to vaccination and both of these exemptions have become increasingly difficult to obtain in New York. Many parents are reporting that their religious exemptions are being denied or revoked after they have been grilled for hours by state attorneys and school officials about their spiritual beliefs. Some doctors practicing in New York are also reporting that they cannot write medical exemptions without being harassed by state health officials.

Parents protesting attempts by the pharmaceutical industry and government
to force nearly six dozen vaccines on children or deny them an education, which limits their ability to hold a job and function in society, are also supporting Assembly Bill 3064 (also SB 1563) for religious exemption to vaccination that would prevent state officials from grilling parents about their religious beliefs for the purpose of denying a religious exemption to vaccination. This bill states that "this legislation is intended to protect parents from inappropriate and intrusive inquiry into their beliefs by government authorities" and already has numerous sponsors.

Parents are also supporting Assembly Bill 3180 (also SB 1575) for medical exemptions to vaccination to allow licensed physicians and certified nurse practitioners to write medical exemptions for children if they believe that "such immunization or immunizations may be detrimental to the person's health or is otherwise medically contraindicated for health reasons" without being subject to override by state health officials seeking to deny medical exemptions. This bill also already has numerous sponsors.

New York citizens, who want to attend the 11:30 a.m. June 10 rally and press conference on the steps of the Capitol Building (Swan St. side) in Albany, can get more information about bus transportation from Long Island, Rochester and suburban Albany as well as other details about the event at www.mykidsmychoice.com. After the rally, parents plan to meet with legislators and then attend a Health Committee meeting at 1 p.m. in the Legislative Office Building (Room 823).

For more information on contacting New York state legislators, go to http://assembly.s tate.ny.us/. New York voters can type in their zip code and find contact information for their own Assemblyperson and Senator and voice their opinion. To find out more about contacting NY legislators on this issue, go to the website of A-Champ .

Rita Palma, a Bayport mother of three, said "Vaccines are under more scrutiny than ever. Yet some lawmakers pick right now to create a bill that actually increases vaccine mandates. This bill is a slap in the face to worried parents throughout New York. AB 10942 is being pushed by Big Pharma lobbyists. We need to show them that New Yorkers will not stand for this and make our voices heard."

Congratulations to the parents and those principled lawmakers in New York, who are standing up and being counted in support of legislation protecting the human right to informed consent to vaccination. Every American should have the right to hold sincere religious and conscientious belief convictions about whether or not to subject themselves or their children to harm from a pharmaceutical product, such as a vaccine, that carries an uncertain risk of injury or death.

Doctors are not infallible and the products drug companies create for profit are not always safe or effective for everyone. And no child in America should be subjected to vaccination or any other medical procedure without the informed consent of his or her parents. New York AB 10942 backed by Big Pharma and Big Government is a prescription for tyranny.

Stand Up! Be Counted . Your health and your freedom is on the line.

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